Addressing parliament members in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the British prime-minister David Cameron criticized Netanyahu’s governmental policies saying that construction in East Jerusalem settlements is “genuinely shocking”.

“I am well-known as being a strong friend of Israel, but I have to say the first time I visited Jerusalem and had a proper tour around that wonderful city and saw what has happened with the effective encirclement of East Jerusalem – occupied East Jerusalem – it is genuinely shocking,” the prime-minister said.

“What this government has consistently done and gone on doing is saying yes, we are supporters of Israel, but we do not support illegal settlements, we do not support what is happening in East Jerusalem and it’s very important that this capital city is maintained in the way that it was in the past,” he added.

His comments were made in response to a question asked by Labour MP Imran Hussain, about what the British government was doing “to prevent the infringement into Palestinian lives and lands,” just days after the British government barred public institutions from boycotting Israel.

The United Nations regards East Jerusalem as part of the Palestinian territories, illegally occupied by Israel. However, the Israeli government continually approves the construction of homes in the area in breach of international law.

According to a Peace Now report published earlier this month, in 2015 Israeli authorities approved the construction of 1800 housing units in settlements in the West Bank. Tenders for 583 new housing units were published in East Jerusalem last year.